McDaniel & Gates – Marketing Research, 9th Edition Instructor’s Manual
Instructor’s Manual
CHAPTER 12
Questionnaire Design
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. To understand the role of the questionnaire in the data collection process.
3. To learn the process for questionnaire design.
5. To learn the necessary procedures for successful implementation of a survey.
7. To understand the impact of the questionnaire on data collection costs.
KEY TERMS
Questionnaire
Coding
Survey objectives
Open-ended questions
Closed-ended questions
Respondent’s question-answering ability
Respondent’s willingness to answer
Screeners
Prompters
Necessary questions
CHAPTER SCAN
This chapter examines the role of the questionnaire in marketing research and discusses the
correct method for creating a questionnaire. A questionnaire is a set of questions designed to
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CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. Role of a Questionnaire
I. Questionnaire
A. Questionnaire Defined
II. Pivotal Role
A. Pivotal Role of the Questionnaire
2. Criteria For a Good Questionnaire
I. Does It Provide the Necessary Decision-Making Information?
A. Primary Role of the Questionnaire
II. Does it Consider the Respondent?
A. Design of Questionnaire
B. Intended Respondents
III. Does it Meet Editing, Coding, and Data Processing Requirements?
3. Questionnaire Design Process
I. Step One: Determine Survey Objectives, Resources, and Constraints
A. Survey objectives
II. Step Two: Determine the Data Collection Method
A. Methods to gather the data
B. Limitations
III. Step Three: Determine the Question Response Format
McDaniel & Gates – Marketing Research, 9th Edition Instructor’s Manual
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A. Question Formats
IV. Step Four: Decide on the Question Wording
A. Four General Guidelines about the Wording of Questions
V. Step Five: Establish Questionnaire Flow and Layout
A. Sequence the Questions and Develop a Layout for the Questionnaire
VI. Step Six: Evaluate the Questionnaire
4. Impact of the Internet on Questionnaire Development
I. Internet’s Effect of Questionnaire Development
5. Software for Questionnaire Development
6. Costs, Profitability, and Questionnaires
7. Summary
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CHAPTER SUMMARY
1. ROLE OF A QUESTIONNAIRE
I. Questionnaire
1. Every form of survey research relies on a questionnaire, the common thread to most data
2. Provides standardization and uniformity in the data gathering process.
4. The interviewers’ tool that creates the basic product (respondent information)
6. Creating a good questionnaire takes both hard work and imagination.
II. Pivotal Role of the Questionnaire
A. Pivotal Role of the Questionnaire–translate the survey objectives into a form understandable
to respondents and ‘pull’ the requisite information from them
1. Responses must be in a form that can be easily tabulated and translated into findings and
recommendations
3. The questionnaire plays a key role in survey costs
See Exhibit 12.1 The Questionnaire’s Pivotal Role in the Research Process (p 336)
2. CRITERIA FOR A GOOD QUESTIONNAIRE
I. Does It Provide the Necessary Decision-Making Information?
A. Primary Role of the Questionnaire
1. To provide the information required for management decision making—a questionnaire that
3. Until the manager signs off, the marketing researcher should continue to revise the
questionnaire.
II. Does It Consider the Respondent?
A. Design of Questionnaire
1. Should be concise, interesting and flow in a logical, clear-cut manner
2. Must consider not only the topic and the type of respondent, but the interviewing environment
and questionnaire length
B. Intended Respondents
2. Fit the questions to the prospective respondent–consider the age and education level of the
respondent
3. Strip away any marketing jargon and business terminology that may be misunderstood by the
respondent
III. Does It Meet Editing, Coding, and Data Processing Requirements?
A. Design Questionnaire with Editing, Coding, and Data Processing Included
1. Editing–going through each questionnaire to ensure that skip patterns were followed and the
required questions filled out
2. Skip Pattern–sequence in which questions are asked based on the respondent’s answer to
prior questions;
a. Branching takes the participant to a different set of questions based on the answer
b. Piping integrates responses from a question into later questions
See Exhibit 12.2 Example of a Questionnaire Skip Pattern (p 339)
4. Coding–process of grouping and assigning numeric code to the various responses to a
question
See Exhibit 12.3 Coding Sheet for the Question “What is Your Occupation?” (p 339)
See Practicing Marketing Research: Tips for Maximizing User Response in Online Surveys
(p340 – 341)
Here are 10 valuable tips for online survey development.
1. Make sure you would enjoy taking the survey. Put your screening and data management
3. Make the attribute ratings easy on the viewer’s eyes.
5. Be sensitive to special audiences and their needs or preferences, such as teenager studies (use
snappy graphics; pose age-relevant questions).
7. Use incentives, and make sure they’re suitable to the target audience; for lengthy surveys,
make sure you provide generous incentives.
9. Supplement e-mail surveys with telephone or interactive voice-response methodologies to
increase and hold participation.
10. Take advantage of the prevalence of high speed online interactivity through such
technologies as Flash; these enable market researchers to sample consumer response to
commercials or simulated shopping environments
Discussion Questions
2. Consider the merits, or disadvantages, of three incentives that might be offered to potential
survey respondents.
3. QUESTIONNAIRE DESIGN PROCESS
See Exhibit 12.4 Questionnaire Design Process (p 341)
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II. Step Two: Determine the Data Collection Method
A. Methods to Gather the Data—each method has its own advantages and limitations
2. Telephone
4. Self-administration
B. Limitations
2. Telephone–verbal descriptions required
4. Self-administration–no opportunity to clarify questions
III. Step Three: Determine the Question Response Format
A. Question Formats
1. Ladders Can Sometimes Help
Laddering interviews are typically used to provide an in-depth understanding of how consumers
See exhibit 12.5 A Ladder for the Infiniti “Around–View Monitor” (p 344)
See exhibit 12.6 A Business Ladder for Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Software (p
345)
2. Open-ended Questions–are those in which the respondents can reply in their own words
a. Advantages
1) They enable respondents to give their general reactions.
3) The data provided can serve as a means of interpreting closed-ended questions.
4) They may suggest additional alternatives not listed in a closed-ended question.
b. Problems
1) The time and money consuming process of editing and coding.
3) May be biased toward the articulate interviewee
McDaniel & Gates – Marketing Research, 9th Edition Instructor’s Manual
5) The questions are inappropriate in some self-administered questionnaires.
Probing
Often, open-ended questions require probing. Probing means that an interviewer encourages the
respondent to elaborate or continue the discussion. Powerful probes will advance a discussion
See exhibit 12.7: The Nuances of Probing (p 347)
See Practicing Marketing Research: It’s All about the Objectives (p 342)
• A study’s objectives are its first and most important consideration.
• Each question should be clearly written, in plain English, free of jargon and without
ambiguity
Questions:
1. Is there a problem with specifying the research objectives after the questionnaire has been
designed? Why?
See Practicing Marketing Research: Useful Open-Ended Questions (p348)
What would it take to get you to use of buy a product or service?–useful at the end of a focus
group or in-depth interview
What is the best thing about the product, service, or promotion?–yields far more than the
typical “What do you like about it? Questions and can be useful as an addition to the traditional
“likes” question.
What is the worst thing about the product, service, or promotion?–this question yields
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How would friends and close associates relate to this idea?–sometimes an idea or a concept
can be so blatant that it causes a consumer backlash.
What do you do just before you use a product or service?–you may find just how much the
product means to the customer or not.
2. Closed-Ended Questions–requires the respondent to make a selection from a list of responses
a. Advantages
2) Reading response alternatives may jog a person’s memory
4) The option of expounding on a topic is not given to a respondent
5) Coding and data entry can be done automatically with questionnaire software programs
b. Types of Closed-ended Questions
1) Dichotomous Questions
a) Two fixed alternatives–yes or no; agree or disagree.
2) Multiple-choice Questions
3) Disadvantages of Closed-ended Questions
a) For the dichotomous question form, the responses fail to communicate any intensity of feeling.
3. Scaled-Response Questions
a. Advantages
2) Many forms incorporate numbers, which can be used directly as codes.
3) Can use much more powerful statistical tools with some scaled-response questions (see
Chapter 17)
b. Disadvantages
1) Respondent misunderstanding of the respond category options.
IV. Step Four: Decide on the Question Wording
A. Four General Guidelines About the Wording of Questions
1. Make Sure the Wording Is Clear
a. The questions must be stated so that it means the same thing to all respondents.
2. Avoid Biasing the Respondent
3. Consider the Respondent’s Ability to Answer the Questions
4. Consider the Respondent’s Willingness to Answer the Question.
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c. Ask about “most people”
d. Using counterbiasing statements technique–state that the behavior or attitude is not unusual
prior to asking the question.
V. Step Five: Establish Questionnaire Flow and Layout
A. Sequence the Questions and Develop a Layout for the Questionnaire
See Exhibit 12.8 How a Questionnaire Should be Organized (p 356)
1. Use Screening Questions to Identify Qualified Respondents
a. Screeners–can quickly eliminate unqualified persons and enable the interview to move
immediately to the next potential respondent
See Exhibit 12.9 Screening Questionnaire That seeks Men 15 Years of Age and Older Who
Shave at Least Three Times a Week with a Blade Razor (p 357)
2. Begin with a Question that Gets the Respondent’s Interest
3. Ask General Questions First
4. Ask Questions That Require “Work” in the Middle
5. Insert “Prompters” at Strategic Points
6. Position Sensitive, Threatening, and Demographic
7. Allow Plenty of Space for Open-Ended Responses
a. Three to five lines of blank space are deemed sufficient
8. Put Instructions in Capital Letters
9. Use a Proper Introduction and Closing–Every questionnaire must have an introduction and
closing. The Council for Marketing and Opinion Research (CMOR) recommend the following:
a. Model Introduction/Opening
1) In order to gain the trust of the respondent, the interviewer should provide his or her first
name or agreed upon contact name.
5) The respondent should be told in the introduction the approximate length of the survey.
6) It is recommended as standard practice to obtain two-party consent to monitoring/recording;
8) Invite the respondent to participate in the survey, determine if the interview time is convenient
and, if not, offer an alternative callback time and date to complete the survey.
b. Model Closing
1) At the conclusion of the survey, thank the respondent for his or her time.
3) Remind the respondent that his or her opinions do count.
VI. Step Six: Evaluate the Questionnaire
A. Is the Question Necessary?
1. Each question must serve a purpose
2. Is it directly and explicitly related to the stated objectives of the particular survey?
B. Is the Questionnaire Too Long?
2. Internet surveys should be less than 15 minutes
3. Incentives can lower the cost of surveys because the response rates increase and terminations
decrease
McDaniel & Gates – Marketing Research, 9th Edition Instructor’s Manual
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C. Will the Questions Provide the Information Needed to Accomplish the Research
Objectives?
2. If the question cannot be tied to an objective–determine if the list of objectives is complete. If
complete, eliminate the question.
3. If an objective has no questions, then appropriate questions should be added.
See Practicing Marketing Research: Tips for Writing a Good Questionnaire (p360)
Here are some dos and don’ts when writing questions
* Avoid abbreviations, slang, or uncommon words that your audience might not understand.
* Be specific
* On the other hand, don’t overdo it
Pretest the survey before the survey.
The primary purpose of a pretest is to make certain that the questionnaire gives the respondent
clear, understandable questions that will evoke clear, understandable answers
VII. Step Seven: Obtain Approval of All Relevant Parties
A. Distribution of Draft Copies
2. Obtain managerial approval for the questionnaire as this reaffirms their acceptance of this
questionnaire
VIII. Step Eight: Pretest and Revise
A. Pretest–a trial run of a questionnaire
1. Misinterpretations by respondents
3. Poor skip patterns
5. General respondent reaction to the interview